I have carpeted stairs that already have a skirtboard in place. I would like to remove the carpet, nail in hardwood flooring for the tread, and paint the risers a nice glossy white.

Before:


After:


Just kidding. But, you get the idea. I had a few questions about how to floor the stairs.

- Is there any reason why I can't simply putty, sand, prime, and paint the (probably pine) risers?

- When I install the flooring (and nosing), I want it to come up SNUG to the skirtboards. It would also come up snug against the (painted) rise. So no room for expansion anywhere. Is that ok?

- Should I put a thin bead of caulk where the flooring meets the skirtboards, and the risers, for painting? Or is that uncommon?

- Should I paint the risers (and repaint the skirtboards, they are kind of thrashed) after I've cut off the old tread overhang, but before I put flooring on the treads? Or just wait until all the flooring is all on and then paint it?


Thanks for your help!!

I just went through this and would suggest checking under the carpeting to see what the subtreads and risers are made of. That way you will know what your options are e.g. are the sub-risers pine? The sub-risers may not be too pretty or well fit to the risers as they were installed knowing that carpeting would be covering them. Also, I had also wanted to use flooring fro the stair treads. I was talked out of using for flooring for the treads and wound up going with 1 piece treads. A lot of the reasoning had to do with the look.
Treads should fit snug between the skirts and against the riser if the riser is on first....if tread wants to expand across its width it will be able to move toward the nosing. Your best look will be clean wood to wood joints without caulk. You can finish risers and skirts before the treads ....you can always do a little touch up if you ding them. Also, after you peek under the carpeting make sure that your plans take your local stair building code into account i.e. tread depth, riser height, nosing overhang.

Thanks for the response - I didn't mean to ignore it, I was just busy with flooring the other part of the house! I took your advice and ripped up some carpet to see what I was working with last night.

It looks fairly promising -- the risers are in good shape, and they don't stop short of the skirtboard; in fact, they pass behind it, although there is still a bit of a gap as you can see from the second picture. How does this plan sound?

1) Cut overhang off treads
2) Sand the risers
3) Use drywall mud to go over the nail indentions on the risers
4) Use drywall mud to fill in the gaps between the riser and the skirtboard (see pics)
5) Prime & paint risers with white glossy (also repaint the skirtboards!)
6) Install flooring + nosing on treads

As for using 1-piece treads, well, I have already ordered the 3.25" strip flooring and nosings, so that's what I'll have to use. In hindsight, I would have tried to find 1-piece treads.

Why drywall mud? I'd use wood filler. Also, there are some good size gaps....maybe some pieces of wood to take up some of the space. I would really consider veneering the risers instead of trying to work with what the picture shows.....1/4" veneer material would not be too expensive and would probably be a lot less work....cut 'em, paint 'em, install 'em. Make sure nosing pieces are well secured.

I agree new risers will cover the vertical gaps and the new treads will cover the horizontal ones. The 1X10s that are on will never look good no mater how much you try.

One more case for new risers. If the treads are out of square you'll have to do some tapering of the flooring boards that you are going to use for the treads otherwise you may have gaps where the treads abutt the risers. Applying a veneer riser after putting down the tread material will easily hide the gap. Also, I don't know what you're planning for a final tread width. You mentioned the flooring strips and nosing have been ordered. Are you assuming that x number of boards plus nosing will be the exact width you need? The subtreads and risers may not co-operate with this and you may wind up having to make adjustments which riser veneers may help with.

I like to use HDF or MDF on the risers and use a high quality paint like ProClassic, smooth enamel interior water based acrylic-alkyd in semi-gloss extra white from Sherwin Williams. Costs like $70 a gallon but well worth it. I use it for my baseboards in my house.

Once you cut the over hang off the 1/2 inch MDF will usually make up the difference and be within code. Get the primered MDF. Glue and pin at very top and bottom to hide the holes where the tread covers working from bottom to top or vise versa what ever turns your crank. Cover the gap where the tread is against the old riser with the new riser. Get my drift?

See stairs like yours here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13772863@N08/8555075558/

I'd go from bottom to top for a couple of reasons. It will let you use the new riser to hide any gap between the tread and old riser. It will let you address the expansion gap with a new riser where the existing first floor flooring abutts the staircase. Lastly the landing tread overhang will be dependent on the overhangs of all the steps. Stair building code allows variances and without measuring everything you won't know what the builders of the subtreads left you with. The subtreads should all be within code but what is carpet friendly might not be hardwood friendly.

Thanks for all the great tips!

Sounds like cutting veneer risers is the way to go. I had been shying away from this because it seems tricky to cut a perfect fit, so I will have to be very careful about measurements but sounds like it will be fine. And less effort (and achieving a better result) than trying to sand down and work with the existing pine risers.

Plus if I use a 1/2" riser (and install the tread before the riser), it buys me 1/2" of tread expansion gap that otherwise would be 0". Even though I live in a very temperate climate, I was a little worried that the treads might expand and push the nosing out far enough for it to become a lever, causing someone walking up the stairs to loosen it over time.

I'll have to check and see what the rise & run code is. I'm not super concerned about code, but if using 1/4" veneer instead of 1/2" veneer, for example, keeps me within code I might as well do it right while I've got the tools out.

Also thanks for the specifics on the paint to use, it's really helpful. ProClassic smooth enamel interior water based acrylic-alkyd semi-gloss extra white is a mouthful. One coat or two?

I assume HDF resists dents better than MDF? That's one concern I had about using fiberboard is if someone wearing boots accidentally kicks a riser on the way up the stairs, it might leave a nasty dent.

Buy or make a stair tread jig. With it you can get the exact size to cut treads and risers to. Also, pay attention to stair building code. If you don't you could have a dangerous tripping situation. The gap that a veneer riser will hide has more to do with getting a correct tread depth and overhang than for expansion....the tread can expand in the direction of its nosing if it has to......it's not going to expand enough for you to even notice. If fastened properly the tread should never come loose.
Just out of curiosity where are you located? Also, check with your local building inspector and see what stair code you should be using i.e. National or State.

The risers will not affect code as you are building every one out the same nothing will change it more affects the bottom step and the top step.